Australian citizens evacuated from a Dutch-flagged cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned home after two weeks overseas. The passengers will now undergo quarantine and further testing in Western Australia.
Four Australian nationals landed at an air force base near the Western Australian city of Perth on Friday (15 May) aboard a government-chartered flight, local media reported.
The passengers will spend three weeks in isolation at a quarantine facility and undergo further testing, including additional PCR tests.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said none of the passengers had shown symptoms before boarding the flight and had tested negative for hantavirus before departing the Netherlands.
“They will be transported immediately to the quarantine facility that's effectively next door, and they will be tested again,” Butler told Sky News.
Butler said earlier that additional monitoring was also being considered because of hantavirus’s longer incubation period of about 42 days.
“We're not going to let anything happen that doesn't align with World Health Organization (WHO) advice about the incubation period for this virus,” he added.
The flight crew will also be expected to voluntarily quarantine at the facility for two weeks. Butler said everyone on board remained in full PPE throughout the flight and that the aircraft would be decontaminated.
Eleven passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, which set sail from Ushuaia in southern Argentina on 1 April, have contracted the virus, according to the WHO.
The MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries when a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses among passengers was first reported to the WHO on 2 May.
Several passengers were evacuated to the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife on Sunday (10 May), before the ship sailed to the Netherlands the following day carrying the remaining passengers: four Australians, a New Zealander and a Briton living in New Zealand.
Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with infected rodents, although person-to-person transmission is possible with the Andes strain identified as responsible for the MV Hondius outbreak.
Health experts have nevertheless urged calm, noting the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19 and poses little risk to the wider public. The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine period for all passengers from the cruise.
On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 41 people in the U.S. were being monitored for hantavirus. Earlier, the French health minister said all 26 people under observation in France for possible hantavirus infection had tested negative.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of a deadly drone strike on a Türkiye-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea, killing it...
Regional powers gathered in Moscow on Monday for talks on Afghanistan, focusing on security, economic cooperation and Kabul’s relations with ...
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held talks in Tehran on Monday on bilateral ties and efforts t...
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), appointed as acting oil minister, according to Iranian state media.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets seven conditions agreed under a June memorandum, as President Donald Trump signals he may soon decide whether to resume military operations against Tehran.
Uzbekistan’s grape exports have grown rapidly. In January-August 2025, the country exported 86,200 tonnes of fresh grapes worth $78.3 million to 19 countries but can it turn these crops into a recognisable international product?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of a deadly drone strike on a Türkiye-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea, killing its captain and endangering a civilian crew that included Azerbaijani and Indian nationals.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 5 October 2026. These are the top five elections making headlines around the world.
The United States has withdrawn all 12 of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Britain, just a week after several people were arrested over an alleged plot targeting the air base.
Australian counterterrorism authorities are examining the links of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to take control of a flydubai flight bound for Israel. Authorities in New Zealand have also said they are investigating reports the suspect had spent time in that country.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called a snap election for 29 November in a bid to strengthen his mandate after a fragmented parliament rejected the government's key housing decrees last week amid widespread protests.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment